Transistors can be used as logical switches in an integrated circuit (IC). Transistors generate heat when switching from an off state to an on state, or from an on state to an off state, within the IC. If this heat is neither properly dissipated nor otherwise accounted or compensated for, the transistor can experience degeneration leading to transistor failure.
However, although the IC can have an associated temperature sensor to detect excessive heat, there can be significant variation in the readings obtained from a temperature sensor from IC to IC. Therefore, a calibration of the temperature sensor for a given IC is performed to compensate for this variation. Conventionally, one method of calibration is to generate an overall temperature for the IC chip environment, and then calibrate the temperature sensor or temperature sensors at that temperature. In other words, determine what the readings of the temperature sensors are at a known temperature, and use these readings as a basis for comparison when determining an unknown temperature. However, calibration of temperature sensors can be time intensive and costly.
Furthermore, for some forms of error detections as indicated by anomalous IC temperature conditions, a plurality of temperature calibrations are performed at different temperatures. These different temperatures can be “critical” (threshold) temperatures. Generally, when the IC chip reaches a given critical temperature, certain actions are performed or modified by the IC. These actions can be the slowing of the processor speed of the IC, disabling certain functionalities within the IC, deactivating the IC itself, and so on.
However, there are problems with conventional critical temperature calibration procedures. One disadvantage is that the calibrations are performed at fixed temperatures. In other words, typically there is no flexibility in conventional critical temperature calibration systems for setting the critical temperature of the ICs to other than the values that are hard-wired into the IC. Furthermore, heating the chip to the various critical temperatures can be a time and labor intensive process.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to calibrate for critical temperatures of an IC chip that solves at least some of the disadvantages associated with conventional calibrations of critical temperatures of IC chips.